“A lot of what has happened in the last three years has brought out militancy in people who thought they were quite moderate nationalists,” said Diarmaid Ferriter, a history professor at University College Dublin. threatened to feed into destructive sectarian passions. Founded as a heavily armed colonial police force, it was expected to protect Anglo-Irish landlords from their impoverished Irish tenants, oversee evictions and quell political unrest. But in quieter times its constables earned acceptance and even respect through ordinary police work. Most of its rank-and-file members were recruited from the same class of Catholic farmers and merchants who provided the bedrock for Ireland’s struggle for independence.

Source: New York Times February 05, 2020 11:48 UTC